History
This tank finds its origins in the law Lend-Lease (lease-lend) which allows English and Russian to profit from great quantities of American material.English who accepted a great quantity of Sherman M4 saw quickly that this tank supported the comparison with the Panzerkampfwagen IV in terms of shielding but not in terms of firepower. This problem still developed against the tanks Panzerkampfwagen V Panther and Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger.
Moreover British profited since 1942 of a powerful anti-tank gun: the Ordnance QF 17 pounder. It thus decided to mount this gun on the frame of Sherman, Firefly (firefly) had been born.
It was of course necessary to modify some parts of the tank in order to compensate for the weight of the gun, which explains the extension of the turret to the back containing the radio and which can receive a trunk.
Very quickly, this tank landed like the best tank of combined moment, its excellent gun, associated with special ammunition APDS supported the comparison with the 75 mm KwK 42 of the Panther, and even the 88mm of the Tigers.
German consequently knew to recognize this " breaker of panzer" who became a priority target of the tank crew members of the Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht. Unfortunately for the British, the principal defect of remaining Sherman, i.e. its insufficient protection which had with its too high silhouette and its too mean shielding.
On the level of the equipment, there was in an armor-plated division 1 Firefly for 4 Sherman or Cromwell.
Characteristics
Dimensions
- Weight with the combat: 31.600 kg
- Pressure on the ground: 0.927 kg/cm ²
- Length: 6.06 meters
- Width: 2.62 meters
- Height: 2.74 meters
- Crew: 5
Shielding and Armement
- Armament: 1 gun of 17-pdr (76.2 mm)
- 1 machine-gun of .50 M2HB (300 blows)
- 2 machine-guns of .30 M1919A4 (4750 blows)
- maximum Shielding: 76 mm
- minimum Shielding: 25 mm
Propulsion
- Power: 425 CV
- Fuel rating: 13 CV/ton
- Speed on road: 32 km/h
- Tank: 606 liters
- Autonomy on road: 161 km
- Driving: 1 Chrysler A57 Multibank (425 CV)
Production
- Quantity: approximately 1200 specimens
Internal bonds
- Ordnance QF 17 pounder
External bonds
-
Forum of the armoured tanks of the second world war
- British tanks
- Encyclopedia of the tanks of the second world war
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